Book Review: Blankets and Afghans by Amanda Perkins, December 2024

Discover the Perfect Blanket Design

Amanda Perkins Blankets and Afghans is a vibrant and inspiring crochet book that brings a fresh, contemporary flair to the art of blanket-making. With a focus on striking colour combinations and simple yet beautiful motifs, this book offers crocheters of all levels the chance to create stunning, modern afghans or blankets with ease.

Colour Palettes

The various colour choices are one of the best features of the book. Each design is thoughtfully paired with colours that bring the patterns to life. The book demonstrates how to use colour to enhance the visual impact of the project, with some designs featuring vibrant, multicolour motifs and others showcasing more subtle, neutral tones.

There are multiple colour and size options for each project, giving the reader the freedom to adjust the design according to their taste or the space where the blanket will be used. The advice on combining different colours, tones, and textures makes it easy to take on even the most complex designs with confidence.

Projects

The book features 10 gorgeous blanket projects, each designed with simple motifs—such as squares, hexagons, and triangles—which come together to form visually striking, cohesive pieces. What sets this book apart is the expert use of colour. Amanda’s eye for bold, contrasting hues and harmonious blends transform these basic shapes into works of art. Each project is carefully planned to guide readers through the process of colour selection, giving them the confidence to experiment with their own palettes.

Techniques

For beginners, the book offers a solid introduction to crochet with just basic stitches used in each motif. It includes clear instructions on selecting yarns, using hooks, and mastering basic techniques like joining motifs, sewing in ends and blocking. Additionally, the step-by-step layout, complete with a walk through of how to read crochet charts as well as written instructions being available, makes it easy to follow along.

Clear coloured diagrams of how to arrange the motifs are included for each project showing how it will look once complete. Not only that, many of them show a selection of colour charts to help with your own colour choices.

Motifs

The book includes 20 individual motifs, providing a wide range of options to mix and match for a truly custom result. Whether you're crafting a traditional square or trying something more adventurous like a hexagon or triangle, there’s plenty of variety to inspire creativity. And with detailed colour variations for many of the blanket designs, the book encourages endless customisation.

Ease of Use

Each project is accompanied by clear instructions that break down the process step-by-step. The writing is concise, and the patterns are easy to follow.

Additionally, the book includes helpful tips on the best practices for crochet, making it a useful reference guide for crocheters who want to enhance their skills while tackling new projects.

Joining Techniques

The book includes detailed instructions on how to join pieces seamlessly, which is a crucial skill when creating large blankets or multi-part designs. It offers different techniques for joining, such as whipstitching, slip stitch join, and others, providing step-by-step guidance with helpful illustrations.

My Favourite Pattern

This was very difficult to pick but in the end I went with the Rose Window – an absolutely stunning design using a combination of squares and triangles. Three different colour combinations are shown to help with your colour choices.

Each square and triangle is very simple to make using mainly just half double crochet stitches (US terminology), half treble stitches (UK terminology).

My Observations

This book is a must have for anyone who loves making crochet blankets. The visual treat of flicking through the pages is just wonderful, as well as the clear instructions, striking images and extremely useful colour charts. Here are some of my particular observations:

• In most of the projects the yarn used is from The Natural Dye Studio which was run by Amanda until a few years ago. Unfortunately, that yarn is no longer available, however Amanda offers a host of alternative yarns of equal weight which is extremely helpful.

• Unusually Amanda likes to work all her stitches between the stitches of the previous round, rather than into the stitches themselves. This gives a stunning effect which is similar to what you would get when working moss or linen stitch. Because of this I would imagine that you may need to go up a hook size or two to avoid the fabric being too dense. Amanda crochets rather loosely herself but if you are a tight crocheter you may want to bear this in mind.

• The book uses US terminology throughout but there is a very handy conversion chart on the front flap of the outer cover, which you can fold over and have to hand whilst working on a pattern if you are used to UK terminology.

Summary

This is an exceptional crochet book that stands out for its beautiful designs, practical guidance, and inspiring colour palettes. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crocheter, the projects in this book will challenge you and inspire you to create stunning, one-of-a-kind blankets. The ease of use, combined with clear charts and joining instructions, makes this book an invaluable resource for anyone looking to create beautiful crochet afghans or blankets.

Don't forget that if you are on my mailing list you can purchase any book that I review for 25% off from Search Press, using the discount code in my weekly email sent every Friday, available for TWO MONTHS from the date of the review.

SUBSCRIBE BELOW

⬇️⬇️⬇️